Lack of public transit could trap aging boomers

In four years, nearly 40 percent of the San Diego region’s senior citizens, including the first wave of Baby Boomers, could find themselves living in areas where access to public transportation is “poor to nonexistent” at the time in their lives when they might need it the most, according to a national report.

The report, “Aging in Place: Stuck Without Options,” from transportation advocacy group Transportation for America, raises concern over the future mobility of the first generation to grow up in, and raise their families in, communities designed on the assumption that most everyone can drive to get where they want to go. As Boomers age and their ability to drive diminishes, the authors say, more and more suburban senior citizens will find themselves grounded.

The report’s authors consider any senior citizen living more than a half-mile from a train or ferry and more than a quarter-mile from a bus stop as being isolated.

The report ranks 241 of America’s cities on their ability to provide their senior population with public transportation four years from now. Atlanta comes off as the most senior-unfriendly: Ninety percent of its residents, 65-and older, will have poor access to public transit by 2015, the report claims.

Of the 46 metro areas with a population between 1 million and 3 million, those which serve their seniors best with the fewest “left behind,” are San Francisco (12%), San Jose (15%), Miami (17%), Oakland (18%) and Salt Lake City (26%). San Diego will have 39 percent — a projected 142,315 senior citizens — living beyond the reach of public transit in 2015.

“Like many regions, San Diego has historically under-invested in this network,” said Ryan Wiggins of Transportation for America.

Regional planners in San Diego cite the growing needs of Baby Boomers in the draft 2050 Regional Transportation Plan, a huge document that projects regional growth and transportation needs for the next 40 years. San Diego Association of Governments planners say that between 2008 and 2050, residents over the age of 65 will grow by 143 percent. Residents over 85 will increase by 214 percent.

The 2050 plan anticipates future growth to be clustered on the major transit corridors, primarily the interstates, according to SANDAG principal planner Coleen Clementson. A lot of that will be high-density mixed-use development, she said, with residential and shopping/commercial in the same area.

“The question will be transitioning of seniors to these areas,” she said. “We can’t take the peanut butter approach, spreading transportation everywhere.”

Mobility isn’t just about riding buses and vans, said Kathleen Ferrier, policy manager for Walk San Diego. “Walking is the second-most-frequent mode of transit for older adults,” she said. “Continued federal funding for pedestrian and bicycling programs will make streets safer for seniors, connect them to the transit system, and make sure that our transportation investments improve safety.”

The national report is neatly timed to send this message to Congress which is grappling with a long-overdue federal transportation budget. The message is that, within four years, a significant segment of the population — 15.5 million Baby Boomers — will need some way to get around other than their own automobile. Planning for that time, needs to begin now, says Transportation for America’s president and CEO John Robert Smith.